The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbine engines, and particularly, to operating a gas turbine engine.
In general, gas turbine engines combust a mixture of compressed air and fuel to produce hot combustion gases. The combustion gases may flow through one or more turbine stages to generate power for a load and/or compressor. Each turbine stage includes a plurality of turbine blades, which are driven to rotate by the combustion gases. Temperatures of different components of the gas turbine engine may change at different rates during transitions in the operation of the gas turbine engine, such as startups, shutdowns, and other changes in load rates. For example, certain components of the gas turbine engine may reach the desired operating temperature before other components, thereby creating potential interference (e.g., a rub condition) issues between the components. These interference issues may be partially addressed by increasing the time associated with the transition (i.e., decreasing the rate of the transition). Unfortunately, such measures may decrease the operating efficiency of the gas turbine engine and/or delay the operation of the engine at its full capacity.